China Daily launches its Africa edition, the first English-language newspaper published in Africa by a Chinese media enterprise, on Dec 14.

China Daily Africa Weekly marks a significant milestone in the overseas development of China Daily and joins the paper's international stable of publications in the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific as well as Hong Kong.

"The relationship between China and the African continent is one of the most significant relationships in the world today. It is growing and complex and not always understood - not just by those in other parts of the world but Africans and Chinese, too," said Zhu Ling, China Daily's publisher and editor-in-chief. "We hope to set that straight, and that is why China Daily, China's largest English-language newspaper, is launching an Africa edition."

The newspaper, which will be circulated throughout the continent and also be available in a digital format, will look at the precise nature of Chinese involvement in Africa and also the prominent role many Africans play in China.

Chinese and African leaders and diplomats have offered their congratulations to China Daily on the launch of the Africa edition.

State Councilor Dai Bingguo said the Africa Weekly will be a channel of good communication between Chinese and African people.

Abdul'ahat Abdurixit, president of the Chinese-African People's Friendship Association, said the launch of an Africa edition by China Daily "will surely help improve communication between China and Africa, at both the official and people-to-people levels. May the relationship between the two grow and prosper. I offer my congratulations to China Daily on this endeavor."

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said the Africa Weekly will reflect the voice of China and advance Sino-African friendship.

Wang Chen, minister of the State Council Information Office, said the publication will spread China's voice and help strengthen friendship between Chinese and African people.

Commerce Minister Chen Deming said China Daily has played an active role in reporting the Sino-African relationship to the world for decades. "I hope China Daily Africa Weekly provides China and Africa with a better understanding of each other, advancing the Sino-African strategic partnership to a new level."

Minister of Culture Cai Wu said the new weekly will give African people a comprehensive and reliable guide to China. "It will deepen the traditional friendship and promote cultural exchanges between China and Africa, taking the Sino-African strategic partnership to a more advanced level."

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairwoman of the African Union Commission, congratulated China Daily on the launch of the Africa edition. "This edition by China's leading English-language newspaper is an eloquent testimony of the cordial and excellent relations between Africa and China, which have passed through several stages of evolution."

Other Chinese officials also offered their congratulations, including Li Zhaoxing, chairman of the top legislature's foreign affairs committee; Zhao Qizheng, director of the foreign affairs committee of the top political advisory body; Ai Ping, vice-minister of the Party's international department; Hao Ping, vice-minister of education; Niu Dun, vice-minister of agriculture; Huang Danhua, vice-chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission; Wei Jianguo, vice-chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges; and Li Xiaolin, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.

Chinese companies such as the China Development Bank, China-Africa Development Fund, Bank of China, China National Electric Engineering Co, China Railway Construction Corp, China Civil Engineering Construction Co and Chinese ambassadors to African nations Kenya, South Africa and Ghana; and African ambassadors to China, such as the ambassadors of Ethiopia, the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, South Africa and Nigeria, and international organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme in China, spoke highly of the publication of the Africa Weekly and said they hope China Daily continues to extend its influence in the continent.

China Daily Group is an authoritative provider of information, analysis, comment and entertainment to global readers. China Daily has firmly established itself as the leading English-language news organization in China since it's founding in 1981.

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